Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Bugged by a bug

I dont like bugs... at all. In fact it might be more accurate to say I loathe and fear bugs. (Note: when I say "bugs" this includes spiders too - but does not include butterflies or ladybugs).

Last night I noticed the most freaky, alien-like, little green creature chilling on my bedroom floor. It was a praying mantis. ewwww.

Finding any bug in the house at all is awful, but in my bedroom....well, thats just plain wrong. There should be some kind of anti -bug force field around bedrooms. I mean who knows how long it had been sitting there, watching me and plotting its sleepy time attack? ( I never trust bugs)

I needed to do something about this room invasion, but what? After a moment of thinking I realised a few things: The Boyf would be mad if I killed it (he likes praying mantises), the bug was rather large and I couldn't leave it to just hang out in my bedroom...alone. grrrrrr....I decided that I must get something to put over it so I can keep it in one place until The Boyf (aka the brave bug handler) got home.

*

Me: *grabs plastic container from kitchen and stands a few feet from praying mantis* Im sorry I have to do this. Personally I would rather squish you, but The Boyf likes your kind.

Praying Mantis: *Tilts evil, green head and looks at me with its dead green eyes *

Me:*takes deep breaths* Dont look at me like that. Now listen, I am going to put this container on you. Please dont move

Praying Mantis: *moves its evil greens hands over its alien face a few time*

Me: *shudders and moves a bit closer*

Praying Mantis: *moves a few steps forward*

Me: *moves a few steps back* Dont make this hard. Stand still or I will go get the biggest book I can find and drop it on you.

Praying Mantis: *tilts head left and right as if to say no, you wont*

Me: So, you dont think I will, hey? Well, I have a rather large, heavy photo book. It would definitely kill you.

My cats and dogs usually eat most spiders and moths etc but I keep a plastic container under the sink which I use to catch the insect and release outside. The exception is ticks which get washed down the sink or flushed.

I hate bugsssss I was held hostage outside of my own room yesterday for a few hours because a lizard decided to take up residence in front of it, luckily like you I have a boyfriend that likes any and every animal on earth especially bugs lol

hahaha! i just went through the same little charade in MY bedroom when i watched a grossly disgusting stinkbug crawl across my wall.. it was dark and all i could see what this moving.. spot. (omg it's giving me the willies just telling you!) i played the little sneak-up-behind-it game and trapped it in a starbucks paper coffee cup, shook it up against the wall a few times as to stun it so it wouldnt creep out and then IMMEDIATELY flushed it down the toilet. still alive. hoping maybe that would get the message across to any..."friends." haha!

ewww I'm a freak about spiders! I don't like them at all. One night I heard banging and things moving at like midnight in my sisters room. I went down opened the door and she had her softball bat and her dresser moved away from the wall! and she was on a mission to find this spider bc she wouldn't fall asleep with it still living.

I have a very serious fear of spiders, but it's not irrational cause they're all out to get me! Vacuum cleaner with a handful of coarse sand and half a bottle of doom does the trick on those very nicely.

i try to catch them and throw them outside, but it depends. the grossest bug story i have is when i was living in the woods for a summer, i caught a wolf spider on the wall by my pillow, and i had to catch it in a cup and throw it outside.

It depends on the size of the bug. I don't mind a Praying Mantis, but other insects are summarily killed. I have three different cans of Doom...each with a different speciality. Spiders, however, are Hubby's problem. I curl into a ball and cry until he kills whichever spider has crawled into my vicinity.

I HATE praying mantises. They are by far the creepiest living thing ever. Well, at least equal to bats. Eew! My tactic would have included squealing like a little girl, & making the hubs deal with it. Then, I would have probably fumigated my entire room, just in case Mr. Couch Potato fibbed & didn't really remove the invader.

When I was in Cambodia, at the amazing Angkor Wat Temple Complex, I ran across a praying mantis... I spent a few minutes amazed, watching the little thing "taunt" me. Is it funny that I found this little buy more entertaining than the architectural wonders behind me.

I had the most god-awful experience the other night: In my sleep I felt something crawl down the nape of my neck and over my shoulder. I thought I was just dreaming, but then I woke up and it was a cockroach - slimy, scheming, gross, gigantic demon of a bug! Needless to say I backhanded it across the room and squashed it against the opposite wall, but it was still...twitching...

Mantids are adorable! Which is probably why people call me whenever they have an insect 'problem'

I'll never forget when one of my students wanted to catch a praying manis for her insect collection, but she was terrified of touching it, so she kind of stomped backwards around the room wielding a jar at the poor thing...

I avoid them if possible, but can deal with them if there is no one else around. I am a smasher...gross, I know. My boyfriend traps them in a platic cup and slides an envelope underneath and takes them outside. Unless it's winter time and he's feeling lazy, then he will just cover it up with a cup, leave it on the counter with the intentions of taking it outside next time he goes, but really forgets about it. Actually, this only happened once...but I haven't let him live it down since it was I who was cleaning up and discovered it there...and it scurried away. :)

My hubby is a biology teacher...bugs are his friends. I don't want them in the house. I once killed a spider, and left it's remains on the walls as a warning to others. (and because I didn't want to go near it dead either) :-)

Praying mantises are THE creepiest things. Several years ago, there must've been a bumper crop of them. The lighted doorbell by my back door attracted them and they camped there for weeks. I was too chicken to use my key in the lock. One got into the house and played music on my measuring spoons thanging on a rack. That same year, a friend caught one in a mason jar--it was the same length as the jar!! He had caught it sitting on the front bumper of his car.

Yeah, I have "issues" with bugs. One held me captive in my apartment for almost a week!! before I regained my freedom. Just in case you might think about calling the police for help....they don't consider Entimology Emergencies a 9-1-1 matter. Not that I called or anything, but that's what I hear.....

Ok, I'm late to this, but I have to say: "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" How could you even think of squashing a praying mantis? They are the most adorable insects! Oh man, I'm not kidding, I LOVE those little guys. I think their little faces are just the cutest things! And the way they rub they front feet together...so sweet! Seriously.

HOWever, if you want to squish a parktown prawn for me, bring it on! Those things are vile. I've also lately been infested by these creepy things that look like crickets with no shell...yuckadoo. Squish squish squish. I'm not adverse to killing spiders, either, but I don't mind wall flatties and daddy-long-legs, because they can't hurt you. Rain spiders freak me out but they're too big to squash without a mess, yuck. Oh and just to reiterate: Kill Parktown Prawns! They must DIE!!!!!

My cat brings in various beasties, usually the dreaded parktown prawns, lizards, rats and birds. The birds I just feel sorry for and they usually die of fright anyway. The lizards I'm A-ok with - I love lizards - so I pick them up and they go outside. My only issue with rats and mice is that they move like the very wind and are hard to catch in my house of mess. But I would take anything over a P-Prawn.